The Art of Customer Service

We have all experienced it, had a disdain for it and even been frustrated by it. It is poor customer service in all of its ugly manifestations. Whether it’s from being left on hold forever or not being able to get answers to questions or worse yet, a feeling that you have somehow imposed upon a sales associates time by actually having an interest in a product they’re offering.

For many if not most of us, it seems like common sense sprinkled with common courtesy to be professional and courteous to those who have sought assistance in some form. All to often, the reality is customer service is likened to a talking point with a dose of lip smacking and a don’t bother me attitude.


It’s these experiences that gave the impetus for this blog, because I don’t get it!

There’s nary a day goes by that each and every one of us doesn’t fall victim to "I don’t care" Joe and "don’t bother me, I’m texting a friend" Sally. Sadly, this is all to often the customer service experience.

At times I wonder just how it is that so many of these businesses survive with such a poor approach to the customer. Clearly, many do not survive over the long-term and probably attribute their demise to convenient esoteric terms such as "a lack of funding" or "the economy was poor" syndrome while getting used to seeing the back of the customers head.

The truth be known, a lot of time and capital investment goes into marketing, inventory, administration and of course personnel. There can be no doubt that billions of dollars are spent every day chasing new customers. While I don’t have the numbers or the research to prove this but, I would be willing to bet that the proportion of capital spent in customer acquisition to that of customer retention is probably 2:1 or worse. The emphasis is always on marketing to new customers versus taking care of those you already have with great customer service.

My point is, if keeping a customer is half the expense of acquiring a new, why are most businesses spending so much time and money chasing new prospects? More importantly, why is the formula of money spent, reversed?

I’m going to provide a theory that I have yet to hear or read about in other places.

It can be summed up this way, there’s a perpetual cycle of emphasis put on customer acquisition from the very beginning of a company’s start up that never ends. It’s more of a methodical, logical progression that goes step by step, whereas keeping satisfied customers is a totally different mental process altogether.

Keeping customers requires a different mental attitude that challenges even the best of us due to the varying relationships and expectations after the sale. The chase may have been great but now we have to deliver. Which is harder?

It’s a lot like dating, getting married and then staying married. Everything is logical until you get hitched!

The fundamentals of business remain unchanged over time regardless of the industry or occupational code they fall under. There are three fundamental elements to being successful in any business regardless of the economy or political wind storms and they are:

Good Product, Good Prices and Good Customer Service.

Much like a three-legged milk stool, these are the three pillars of business.

I can already hear some of you moaning that "Good" isn’t good enough, that you must have  "Great" right? Maybe not.

We Want Only The Best Now At The Lowest Prices.

Much has been written about how demanding we (as a society) have become in that we want the very best products for the lowest prices with awesome customer service after the sale. Do you buy that? Think for a moment about your own personal buying habits. Is it realistic to think we can get the best products coupled with the very best service at the lowest possible cost? I don’t believe it is and truth be known, you don’t either. Because business is generally in pursuit of at least two of those three elements, one is bound to suffer and guess which one that probably is? No doubt, customer service after the sale in almost every case.

While I have no visions of grandeur about changing the world with regards to customer service, I would like to offer up helpful information from more than 35 years in customer service capacities.

As a owner of two separate businesses that both deal heavily with the public, I feel that it’s our respect and understanding of "customer service" that has helped us gain a very loyal following over the 13+ years we’ve been in business.

It may be arguable about whether marketing is a science or not, but there can be little doubt that taking care of the customer is more of an art, hence the title to this blog site, "The Art of Customer Service."